UN concerned over excessive police force

The United Nations on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the arrests of peaceful demonstrators by Nepal’s security forces and has called on the royal government to respect the right of citizens to hold peaceful rallies. “Detention conditions for the hundreds of people already held are seriously unsatisfactory. We are still visiting and monitoring the condition of those many people injured by the grossly disproportionate use of force by police in recent days," said Kieran Dwyer, spokesman for UN office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal. According to a local human rights group, the number of arrests has exceeded 1,500 in less than a week of mass democracy rallies. Led by the seven main opposition parties, the peaceful demonstrations are being held all over the country to protest against King Gyanendra, who assumed direct rule on 1 February, 2005 after suspending the democratic government led by former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for failing to contain the Maoist insurgency. In the last 10 years of violent Maoist rebellion, over 13,000 Nepalese have been killed at the hands of both the rebels and the security forces. In a desperate attempt to solve the country’s political crisis, the seven opposition parties and the Maoists signed a 12-point Memorandum of Understanding on 22 November 2005, to work for the common goals of restoring peace and democracy in the Himalayan kingdom and remove the king from power. Fearing rebel infiltration into the mass rallies, the government imposed a curfew in both the capital and major cities on Saturday. The royal government also issued prohibitory orders against holding rallies in key areas of the cities. As a result, a large number of demonstrators have been arrested and severely assaulted by the civilian police, according to daily reports in the media. Nearly 300 demonstrators were arrested on Wednesday alone, according to local human rights NGO Insec. It added that besides political activists, many among those arrested included journalists, lawyers and human rights workers. The international community has also condemned the government’s action. “Canada is also concerned by continuing indiscriminate arrests and detention of political party leaders and human rights activists,” said a press statement on Wednesday by the government of Canada.